THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 2                 Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 4                  Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.                               
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats             
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Taking on their two women's basketball rivals from Alaska isn't the only challenge on Seattle Pacific's docket this week.
                         
The Falcons will do so knowing that they need to get back on track to stay in contention for a postseason spot.
 
Nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage comes to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday night at 7 as a team that has lived up fully to its status as the favorite to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title. The Seawolves are followed into town on Saturday by Alaska Fairbanks. That game also tips off at 7 in Brougham.
 
At 7-4 in GNAC play, Seattle Pacific is in good position to make the six-team conference tournament field. But at 13-6 overall, the Falcons will need a solid record in their final seven regular-season games to put themselves in position for a 16^th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live Webcasts and live stats will be available for both of this week's games. Links can be found at the top of this story.
 
THINK SOCKS, THEN THINK PINK
The Falcons will be conducting a sock drive during Thursday's game against Alaska Anchorage.  The drive is in conjunction with Tent City 3, which is at Wallace Field for a two-month stay. Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used pairs of socks. A bin will be available in the gym lobby.

When Alaska Fairbanks comes to town on Saturday, it will be Play for Kay in Brougham Pavilion to support the battle against breast cancer. It is the same program that in previous years has been known as Pink Zone.
 



SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons never led in their 82-59 loss at Anchorage on Jan. 7. The game had three ties, the last one at 21-21.
-- UAA's margin of victory was its largest ever in the 56 games between the teams. Seattle Pacific's largest margin was 59 points (98-39) in the 1997-98 season.
-- The Falcons will have to find a way to contain at least one of Alaska Anchorage's two biggest offensive threats. Last time, Haley Holmstead (27 points) and Hanna Johansson (22 points, 18 rebounds) both went off for big numbers.
-- The game will feature three of the top 10 field goal shooters (UAA's Kylie Robison No. 1 at .578, Johansson No. 3 at .567, and SPU's Rachel Murray at .515), and four of the top-10 shooters from 3-point range (No. 1 Betsy Kingma of SPU at .475, No. 2 Sasha King of UAA at .426, No. 9 Nyesha Sims of SPU at .380, and No. 10 Kylie Burns of UAA at .379).
-- After seeing a double-digit series win streak get clipped at Western Oregon (SPU had defeated the Wolves 28 straight times before last Saturday's 79-74 loss), the Falcons will try to keep one going against Alaska Fairbanks, having downed the Nanooks 20 games in a row. UAF's last victory against Seattle Pacific was 75-71 in overtime on Jan. 12, 2002, in Fairbanks.
 
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Sure, coach Julie Heisey and her team will focusing on how best to deal with Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks this week. But with just seven regular-season games remaining, that's not the only focus.

“The bottom line at this time of the year is it has to be about us,” Heisey said. “We know what we do well, and we have to take pride in doing the little things right. We have to take care of things we can control, minimize mistakes, and sharpen areas that we're good at.”
 
That said, the immediate task ahead is to apply all of that to the game plan for Thursday's tussle with Anchorage.
 
“They have a very good offense, and they don't make a lot of mistakes,” Heisey said. “They share the ball and they're hard to guard. The biggest thing is, it always comes back to rebounding. Last time, we gave up 11 offensive rebounds, and almost every time, they scored or went to the free throw line and scored. In these games, you make your own luck happen – that means doing everything you can all the time. You can't go halfway or 85 percent.”
 
Fairbanks also knows how to put the points on the board, having racked up 64 against the Falcons on Jan. 5 at The Patty Center.
 
“They do like to go up and down the court,” Heisey said. “They have very fast guards. We have to not let them score in transition.”
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 19-3, 10-1 GNAC (1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 38-18. Current series streak: UAA won 2. Last time: UAA 82, SPU 59 (Jan. 7, 2012 at Anchorage). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage has lost once since its first meeting with SPU (77-69 at Simon Fraser on Jan. 12). But the Seawolves responded in a big way, routing Western Washington in Bellingham two nights later, 75-55. Haley Holmstead and Hanna Johansson, who combined for 49 points against Seattle Pacific in January, top Anchorage's scoring list at 16.0 points (No. 6 in the GNAC) and 14.6 points (No. 9), respectively. Johansson also ranks No. 2 in rebounding at 9.3 per game. In fact, it could be quite a battle on the boards between the 6-foot-2 Johansson and SPU's 5-8 Nyesha Sims, who averages 9.0 boards despite giving away a few inches to almost everyone under the hoop. While Johansson had 18 rebounds last time, Sims grabbed 10 to lead Seattle Pacific. The Seawolves rank No. 4 in scoring nationally, and their 26.5-point scoring advantage against their opponents is the largest in all of NCAA Division II.
 
ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 6-15, 2-9 GNAC (tie 9th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 48-12. Current series streak: SPU won 20. Last time: SPU 88, UAF 64 (Jan. 5, 2012 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks continues to show marked improvement. The Nanooks had just one victory all of last season, but have won six games so far, including a homecourt sweep of Saint Martin's and Western Oregon on Jan. 19 and 21, respectively. Nicole Bozek, UAF's 6-foot-2 senior center, is the No. 5 scorer in the conference at 16.1 points per game, although she suffered through a cold shooting day (3 of 12) and finished with just 12 points against SPU last month. Bozek – who finished her finished her accounting degree last spring and now is working on her MBA – also ranks No. 7 in rebounding at 8.1 and No. 2 in steals at 2.6. Freshman guard Nicole Hartzog, who hit 7 of 9 from the field in a 21-point outing when the Falcons visited Fairbanks, chips in 10.8 points per game.
 
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC / NWC rankings)
                                                SPU                          UAA                        UAF
Points                                     74.4 (2)                  81.0 (1)                  62.8 (8)
Points allowed                     63.2 (5)                  54.4 (1)                  74.5 (10)
Rebounds                              42.3 (3)                  44.8 (1)                  38.0 (7)
Assists                                  17.8 (2)                  19.8 (1)                  11.1 (8)
Blocks                                      3.2 (3)                    3.1 (T4)                  3.1 (T4)
Steals                                       7.1 (T9)                12.6 (1)                    9.7 (4)
Fewest turnovers                17.7 (4)                  17.2 (3)                  18.9 (5)
FG percent                             .447 (3)                  .465 (1)                  .334 (10)
3-point percent                    .363 (2)                  .359 (3)                  .263 (10)
FT percent                             .790 (1)                  .694 (8)                  .733 (4)
 
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
--Nyesha Sims scored 15 points and was one of six Seattle Pacific players in doubles figures last Thursday as the Falcons rolled past Saint Martin's in Lacey, 78-62.
--Jordan Harazin and Rachel Murray tallied 16 points apiece, but Western Oregon's Rylee Peterson poured in a career-high 32 in leading the Wolves to a 79-74 victory last Satuday in Monmouth. That snapped SPU's 28-game series winning streak against Western Oregon.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Senior guard Nyesha Sims maintained her recent string of never going more than one game without a double-double when she scored 11 points and collected 10 rebounds last Saturday at Western Oregon. Sims now has eight double-doubles this year and 13 for her career.
                                                    
Sophomore forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) has two career double-doubles, both this season. Her most recent was 16 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 12 when the Falcons beat Central Washington in Seattle, 97-79.
 
WELCOME TO THE GNAC TOP 20
It's a done deal for senior guard Jordan Harazin. The Seattle Pacific guard earned five assists in last Thursday's 78-62 victory at Saint Martin's, lifting her into a tie for the No. 20 spot on the GNAC career list with 271.
 
Then on Saturday at Western Oregon, Harazin handed out two more assists to take over sole possession of 20^th place. Two more will tie her with former SPU star Daesha Henderson for No. 19 at 275; three more will tie her with Falcons alum Kristin Poe for No. 18 (276), and 18 more in the final seven regular-season games would get Harazin into the top 15.
 
REBOUND THAT BASKETBALL …
At 42.3 rebounds per game, Seattle Pacific already is ahead of last year's season average of 40.8. While Nyesha Sims is on a career-high pace of 9.0 per game, she's not the only one cleaning the window. Last Thursday night at Saint Martin's, junior forward Rachel Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia) and sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) both set career rebounding highs. Murray grabbed eight, and Callen came down with seven. Murray's previous high had been seven, which she set three times – all this season. Callen broke her career high of six, set last Jan. 29 at Alaska Fairbanks.
 
… AND THEN PASS IT
The Falcons handed out 22 assists on their 33 baskets last Thursday at Saint Martin's. That's the eighth time this season they've had 20 or more in a game – and all eight of those games have ended in victories. For the season, SPU has had more assists in 14 of its 19 games. Of the 12 returners on the roster, six have set career highs for assists, with a team-best of nine by Jordan Harazin on Jan. 5 at Alaska Fairbanks. Two other players have tied their career highs.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Falcons have moved up to No. 4 nationally in Division II for free throw shooting. SPU hits 79.0 percent at the line, not far behind top-ranked Maryville of Missouri (80.6 percent).
 
That is one of three categories in which Seattle Pacific is among the top 10. The others are No. 6 in rebounding margin (10.1 more than the opponent) and No. 9 in assists per game (17.8). SPU is top 25 in five other catagories: No. 14 in field goal percentage (.447), No.20 in scoring (74.4) and in 3-point percentage (.363), No. 21 in assist/turnover ratio (1.01) and No. 22 in fewest fouls committed per game (14.1).  All categories count the 281 D-2 schools that play women's basketball.
 
Individually, the top-ranked Falcon continues to be senior guard Jordan Harazin in assist/turnover ratio. She averages 2.03 assists for every one turnover.

Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
POLLING PLACE        
UC San Diego is a unanimous No. 1 in this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. The undefeated Tritons (20-0) received all 32 first-place votes and the maximum 800 points. Alaska Anchorage moved up to No. 8, up four places from last week, and Grand Canyon fell three spots to No. 15. Cal Poly Pomona, which was No. 22 last week, dropped out of the poll.
 
The first regional rankings will be released on Feb. 15. The top team in the final regional rankings in late February earns the right to host the tournament. The three conference champions (GNAC, CCAA and Pacific West), and the next five highest-ranked teams make the field.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th steal – Nyesha Sims (has 98).
200^th field goal made – Katie Benson (has 199).
200^th rebound – Rachel Murray (has 196).
300^th point – McKayla Gorman (has 298).       
400^th point – Rachel Murray (has 399).
600^th point – Katie Benson (has 563).
800^th point – Nyesha Sims (has 797).
                                                                                    
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK          
100^th point – Suzanna Ohlsen (has 110).
200^th field goal made – Jordan Harazin (has 203).     
300^th rebound – Jordan Harazin (has 301).
                                                                                    
TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time for all home games.

Reserved seats are $8 for center court and $7 for the foul lines. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.

SPU students who show their school identification will be admitted free to all home games.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news, notes, schedule and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.              
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons had tough games at home with both Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, but won both. Now, they face those same teams in their gyms, visiting the Crusaders in Nampa, Idaho, next Thursday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. PST, then journeying to Ellensburg on Saturday, Feb. 11, for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Wildcats. Seattle Pacific beat Central in Seattle, 97-79, and topped NNU, 72-58.
  
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                             GNAC   Season
Alaska Anchorage               10-1        19-3
Western Washington            7-3        13-5
Seattle Pacific                        7-4        13-6
Montana State Billings         7-4        15-7
Simon Fraser                         6-4        11-7
Northwest Nazarene             6-5        12-7
Western Oregon                    4-7         5-16
Central Washington              3-8        6-12
Saint Martin's                          2-9        7-15
Alaska Fairbanks                   2-9        6-15